Monday night's NIHL meeting gave us our first look at preliminary team counts for the upcoming travel hockey season. AHAI was encouraged to see 5 more clubs commit mite teams to the upcoming NIHL season; Rockford, Chiefs, Pekin, Blackbirds, and Yellowjackets. In all there are 19 clubs that are placing mite teams in NIHL this season. Those clubs represent about 38 mite teams. Each metallic level (Gold, Silver, Bronze) will have 10-15 teams participating this season.

A special shout out to the Admirals and Irish who have decided to go 100% half-ice/cross-ice with all their mites this season. The Admirals are looking to become a model association with USA Hockey.

As has been stated in the past, AHAI is not eliminating full-ice hockey as some have suggested. We (AHAI and USA Hockey) are working under the well founded premise that mites playing upwards of 35 to 40 full-ice games in approximately 6 months is not the optimum way to develop them for the long-term. Think about what 40 games represents: half an NHL season, more games than most Division 1 colleges play, and almost as many as most Junior teams. No matter what your child does this winter, we hope it is an enjoyable season. For those leaving AHAI and USA Hockey, we hope to see you back again the following year. For those mites staying in NIHL, congratulations for staying the course and supporting the league that has supported all of us for so long. We will have more updates in the next edition of SNAPSHOT.

The hockey season is right around the corner, and for a dedicated group of hockey people, it comes sooner than for most of the hockey community. Yes, yes, yes I am speaking about the officials. Each year, in order to maintain their "complete" status, all USA Hockey officials must register and attend a day-long seminar. Our registration to do so commences August 1 and this year is no exception.

Last year, a group from Illinois produced an online video presentation which registering officials were required to watch prior to attending their seminar. The online portion of the registration process was a huge success and officials universally commented that the presentation was quite helpful to them. This year, USA Hockey is producing its own online video portion and all officials will view the online section. READ MORE>>>

The Chicago Blackhawks, AHAI, Athletico and NorthShore University HealthSystem are proud to announce the fourth year of the A Step aHead program, which provides education on concussion safety to the youth hockey community and free baseline cognitive testing. Testing is now available through November 30, 2014 for all AHAI members aged 13-18. Keep your eye out for additional information on educational opportunities for coaches, athletes and parents, including our second annual "Mom's Night" at the United Center.

Four Illinois players who participated at the USA Hockey Boys' Select 17 Player Development Camp have been chosen for the U.S. Under-18 Select Team that will compete at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup Aug. 11-16 in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia. Congratulations Tory Dello (Crystal Lake), Matt Jurusik (LaGrange), Tanner Laczynski (Shorewood), and Zach Wilkie (Villa Park). The Boys' Select 17 Player Development Camp took place June 30-July 2 at the Northtown Center at Amherst in Williamsville, N.Y. For a complete roster click HERE and for complete Ivan Hlinka coverage, including Team USA schedule and news, click HERE.

The top four qualities of a role model are passion and the ability to inspire, a clear set of values, selflessness and acceptance of others and the ability to overcome obstacles; qualities not normally associated with an 11 year old boy.

Billy Gatske is a 6th grade student at Traughber Middle School in Oswego, Illinois, and like many young hockey players his age, Billy was bitten by the hockey bug during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. His parents, Bill and Jennie Gatske, enrolled Billy in Learn to Skate programs at Fox Valley and Rocket Ice Arenas where Billy's love for the game of hockey became evident and his path to becoming a role model to other youth athletes began.

Billy was born with VACTERL Association. VACTERL stands for vertebral defects, anal atresia, cardiac defects, tracheo-esophageal fistula, renal anomalies, and limb abnormalities. A child diagnosed with VACTERAL Association will not necessarily have problems in all these areas; Billy has one kidney, an extra rib, no radius bone in his right arm (making it significantly shorter than his left) and a club hand absent a thumb with fused fingers. READ MORE>>>

In June we introduced you to award winning screenwriter and author, Michael Betcherman's first young adult novel, Breakaway. Shortlisted for the John Spray Mystery Award, Breakaway follows Nick Macklin, a 16 year old who had it all until the bottom fell out when his father was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for a crime Nick is convinced he didn't commit. Betcherman will again captivate your hockey enthusiast.

Face-Off introduces us to seventeen year-old Alex Petrovic who is thrilled to be playing goal in an international hockey tournament. He has his sights set on a college hockey scholarship, and scouts from all the big-time schools will be there. After a game against a team from Eastern Europe, he shakes hands with the opposing goalie, Stefan Divac, and finds himself staring at his identical double. At first he doesn't know what to make of it. Then his mother sees Stefan-and faints dead away. The chance meeting uncovers family secrets buried in the wake of a civil war back in their home country that separated the brothers when they were infants. When the two war criminals who were responsible for tearing their family apart escape, Alex dreams of bringing them to justice. Can his dream become reality? READ MORE>>>